


I'll Survive

by Skyshadow3246, Wolfloner



Series: Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse of Norse mythology, BDSM Scene, Branding, Dom/sub, Don't Try This At Home, Edgeplay, Fire, Fire play, FrostIron - Freeform, I may have watched too much Noragami, Improving Communication, Light BDSM, M/M, Marking, Marvel Norse Lore, Oops, Painplay, Possessive Behavior, Sorry Not Sorry, Temperature Play, Wax Play, Worship, both Marvel and Norse Mythos, it's only gonna get worse from here, light possessive behavior, loki/tony stark - Freeform, or at least do it more carefully than these two, playing fast and loose with canon, safeword discussed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 07:24:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14848304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyshadow3246/pseuds/Skyshadow3246, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfloner/pseuds/Wolfloner
Summary: Loki’s eyes had positively lit up when Tony suggested this game. Spread out on their bed, propped up on the pillows, arms crossed above his head, he managed to look compliant and feral at the same time. Tony thought he should probably be unnerved by the effect, but the god’s excitement was contagious.





	I'll Survive

**Author's Note:**

> As a general rule, don't have open flames in your bed. This fic is not an endorsement of this sort of fireplay. Do it safely, kids.
> 
> This is part 3 of a series, but should be able to be read on its own.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy. :)

_ Can you tell me a story without any words? _

_ Then mold me misshapen from the soaking dirt _

_ Keep feeding me courage that I don't deserve _

_ So I don't feel broken like I have no worth _

\--Seether,  _ I’ll Survive _

  
  


Loki’s eyes had positively lit up when Tony suggested this game. Spread out on their bed, propped up on the pillows, arms crossed above his head, he managed to look compliant and feral at the same time. Tony thought he should probably be unnerved by the effect, but the god’s excitement was contagious. 

 

Tony set his hand gently on Loki’s bare stomach. “What does that feel like, for you?”

 

Loki hummed in thought. “Warm. Warmer than usual. Good, though. Comforting.”

 

The room’s ambient temperature was set a bit lower than usual, and honestly several degrees lower than Tony would typically prefer, but a bit of mild discomfort was absolutely worth this. Just about anything was worth the chance to have Loki openly communicating with him, for once. “Why more than usual?”

 

Loki closed his eyes. “Remember how I said I rushed my glamour?”

 

Tony tensed. “Loki…”

 

“Calm down, Stark. I’ll fix it later.” Loki wiggled under him, “Besides, it’ll be way more fun like this.”

 

Tony rolled his eyes, but he didn’t disagree. This time they’d had a nice long discussion. What sounded fun? What didn’t? What was something that absolutely shouldn’t happen? Loki had firmly placed being blindfolded into the latter category, which only strengthened Tony’s theory that Loki hated sensory deprivation, even if he wouldn’t openly admit it.

 

Of course, Loki had also left out that his body was still extra sensitive to heat, which meant Tony had to rethink his opening moves, at least a bit. But never let anyone say that Tony Stark didn’t come prepared. “So this,” Tony held the item up so that Loki could look if he felt so inclined, “is a drip candle. And to my left is a nice bowl of ice water. It’s got a few things besides ice in it, but one thing at a time.” This had been their agreement. Tony wouldn’t tell him  _ exactly _ what he was going to do, but he would share what he was going to use.

 

“Got it,” was Loki’s easy reply. 

 

Tony lit the candle, watching as the wax started to melt, and saw Loki open one eye to stare at him. “That smell…” Loki closed his eyes again. “Woodsmoke?” 

 

“Mmhmm.” Tony gazed over Loki’s body, trying to gauge the best place to start.

 

“ _ Askr _ ,” Loki stated, as if that meant a single thing to Tony.

 

“Sorry?”

 

“ _ Askr _ ,” he repeated, “an... ash tree.” 

 

Tony glanced down at the label. “Could be. It doesn’t specify. Here.” Tony tapped his finger on Loki’s thigh.

 

Loki scoffed, “I know we said no more surprises, Stark, but you can surprise me a little. Isn’t that the whole  _ point _ of this sort of thing?”

 

“Don’t be difficult. Give me feedback on this.” Tony tipped the candle slightly, letting a couple of drops hit Loki’s thigh where he had indicated. 

 

Loki let out a quiet hiss, before taking a couple of long breaths, but through it all, he hadn’t really stopped smiling. “Ok, you win. I’m glad you didn’t surprise me that time.” 

 

“Feedback?”

 

“Give me a second, I’m working on it.” Tony could see the muscles tense in Loki’s leg. “Hurts a little. Not much. More than I thought something called a “drip candle” might, especially if it’s designed for humans...” Loki’s eyes snapped open. “Don’t you dare stop.”

 

Tony laughed. “Wasn’t planning on it.” He tipped loose a few more sporadic drops, each earning a pleased noise from Loki. Tony reached to his left, fishing out a small ice cube, holding it in his hand to let it melt a little. Loki didn’t react to the noise, even though they both knew he heard it. Tony kept letting the wax drip, now methodically. One, two,  _ drip _ , three, four,  _ drip _ , five six,  _ drip _ , making a steady line across the center of Loki’s chest. Once he was sure Loki had fallen into the rhythm he had created, he dropped the ice cube into his navel. 

 

Loki let out a started yelp and jerked back. It only took him a second to piece together what had happened, and once he did he settled back down, fixing Tony with an indignant glare. Tony, for his part, really had tried not to laugh, but Loki’s reaction had been better than he’d imagined.

 

“Didn’t you promise me  _ pain _ , Stark?” Loki had fixed him with that same vaguely feral grin.

 

“Hrmm” Tony blew out the candle, and set to scratching the bits of drying wax off of Loki’s chest, ignoring the slight wince it earned him. “What did you have in mind?”

 

This was something else they’d agreed on. Loki was going to, at least once,  _ ask _ for something. Loki huffed out a sigh, crossing his arms back behind his head, and making a big show of settling down into the pillows. 

 

“I’m waiting.”

 

“And I’m thinking. Weighing my options. Being considerate and all that shit you were preaching about yesterday.” Tony rolled his eyes. Loki was never going to make anything easy. Loki’s expression softened into a content smile, “Hripuðr?” He offered. At Tony’s blank look, he paused, “Fire. We were discussing ways to safely set me on fire?”

 

“You want to jump from candle wax straight to fire?” Tony asked incredulously.

 

“Já… Gør þú svá vel.” This time he didn’t wait for Tony’s confused expression before translating, “Yes, please.”

 

“I don’t think for a moment that what you said translates just to “please”, Loki.”

 

“Do you have anyone else trying to teach you a dead language?”

 

Tony shook his head, leaning over to place the candle and ice bowl on the bedside table. He returned with several items, “Fire wand,” he twirled what looked like an oversized matchstick between his fingers, “cotton swabs, and some,” he glanced down at the label, double checking himself, “70%  isopropyl alcohol.”

 

Loki eyed the objects as Tony presented them, swallowing thickly. There was a strange look in his eyes that Tony couldn’t name, but it was gone in an instant, as Loki seemed to try to settle even further into the bed. “Alright then. Want me to close my eyes?”

 

“Sit up and turn around, first.” Tony set the items to the side, where they joined the several “just in case” safety items that Loki had insisted were unnecessary: a fire blanket, a shallow bowl of room temperature water with a handful of washcloths, some aloe, and a small fire extinguisher. If nothing else, Tony wasn’t keen on accidently setting his room on fire. He picked up a hairbrush and hair tie, and held them up for Loki to see.

 

Loki grumbled as he shifted out of his comfortable position, sitting cross legged in front of Tony, allowing his hair to be brushed and tied back. His hair was still soft, Tony noted. Not like it had been a few days before, but still. “Do you just use some sort of magical conditioner, or what?”

 

Loki snorted. “Why? Should I share?” 

 

Tony kissed the back of Loki’s neck after pulling his hair in a loose ponytail. “I wouldn’t object.”

 

“Immolate me a bit and I’ll think about it.”

 

Tony frowned as he watched Loki crawl back to his previous position, hair now safely tucked under him. “I don’t think that means what you  _ think _ it means.”

 

Loki grinned, “I know what I said.”

 

“Who am I sacrificing you to, then?” 

 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Are you serious?” He shifted one arm from behind his head, and a small burst of emerald flames danced just above his fingertips.

 

“Since when are you the god of fire?” Tony challenged.

 

Loki extinguished the flames, and returned his arm to his prefered position. “I’m not.” He paused briefly, “There  _ isn’t  _ one. Freyja, Halogi, and I govern different aspects of the flames.”

 

Tony paused, letting that sink in. “So…” he faltered, this was weird. “I’m setting you on fire as a sacrifice to yourself?”

 

Loki laughed, his body shaking with the force of it. “You’re fucking worshipping me, Stark.” Oh, that’s what that look had been: some kind of nervous anticipation.

 

A part of Tony wanted to argue, to disagree, honestly, he did. But he could see the challenge in Loki’s expression, daring him to contradict him, and something else. Something that Tony knew all too well, had seen in his own reflection, and in photographs, over and over. That little voice in that sat in the back of his mind, telling him he wasn’t good enough, would be passed over, ignored, forgotten. Instead of arguing, Tony picked up one of the cotton swabs, and dipped it into the alcohol. “Hold still then, Princess”

 

Loki rolled his eyes, but didn’t otherwise comment on the nickname. “Should I close my eyes?”

 

“If you’d like.” 

 

Tony carefully dragged the cotton swab in a circle in the center of Loki’s chest, drawing a triangle in the middle of it, with lines reaching from the points of the triangle to meet with the circle. 

 

Loki hadn’t closed his eyes, and instead tried to look down to watch what Tony was doing. “Is that the Arc Reactor? Are you  _ marking _ me? ”

 

“Mmmhmm,” Tony confirmed, picking up the fire wand and lighting the end. “Ready?”

 

“Always.” Tony held the tip of the wand just above the alcohol, and it only took a moment for the fumes to ignite, and he quickly blew the wand out. Loki’s eyes went wide, his back arched, and he keened. “Yel-” Tony quickly smothered the flame with his hand, not letting Loki finish calling out  _ yellow _ , keeping his hand there as Loki fell back into himself. He was panting, gasping a little, and a slight shiver was running through him. “That was…” He was frowning, trying to figure out how to phrase things.

 

“You’re ok, you’re safe. Take a moment, Loki.”

 

“A lot? Intense?”

 

“Painful?” 

 

“Mmm.” Loki nodded. “I’ll definitely have to fix my glamour after this.”

 

“Do you want to stop?” Tony asked, ready to put a full stop to everything, at Loki’s request.

 

“One more time?” Loki asked, surprising Tony. “Just… please?”

 

Tony moved his hand away, inspecting his skin, it was a warm pink, but didn’t seem overly dry, or like it was going to blister. “Do you have any requests?”

 

Loki shook his head. “Whatever you want.”

 

Tony traced idle designs over Loki’s abdomen, considering. “Can I sign you?”

 

“Can you what?”

 

“My name. Can I write my name on you?”

 

Loki huffed a laugh. “You want to brand me as yours, Stark? “Do not touch, Property of Stark Industries?”

 

“More like, Property of Anthony Edward Stark.” He dug a fingernail into Loki’s hip.

 

Squirming a bit, Loki replied, “That seems a bit long,” Loki’s eyes were shining though, the distress from before completely absent. “Parse that down a bit, and it should be fine.”

 

“Tony Stark, then,” grabbing a new cotton swab Tony wrote a shortened version of his signature across Loki’s stomach in alcohol. “Ok?”

 

Loki glanced down, “Looks good.”

 

Tony lit a new fire wand, but paused several inches from Loki’s skin, when he caught him holding his breath. “Breathe, Loki.” Once Loki had taken in a few deep breaths, Tony let the the alcohol catch fire, and watched as his signature burned to life across Loki’s flesh. 

 

Loki’s next inhale was a strangled gasp. He clenched his eyes closed, and Tony was fairly sure he was digging his fingers into his arms. It looked like he was shaking with the effort of holding still, and half-suppressed gasps and whimpers fell from his throat. When Tony caught sight of the tears falling from the corners of Loki’s eyes, he grabbed the fire blanket and smothered the flames. As soon as the fire was out, Loki let out a gasp, seeming to deflate as his tensed muscles struggled to relax again. “Loki, fuck. I’m sorry, that was too much, that was--”

 

“Shut. Up.” Tony was taken aback by the force in Loki’s gritted words. “Don’t you  _ dare _ start internalizing that. I didn’t use my safeword. I  _ chose _ not to use my safeword.” Loki was glaring at him, his position on the bed not diminishing his authority in the least. “I asked for that, Stark, knowing full well what I was asking for. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

Tony tried to keep that in mind as he lifted the blanket to look over the damage. The skin was red and angry, a few blisters had already formed, but despite his concern, a well of pleasure bubbled up in his chest at the sight of Loki branded with his name. “Do you think that’ll leave a scar?” He asked, grabbing some aloe from his  “just in case” pile, and gently applying it.

 

“Well, nothing else has left any scars, and I’ve suffered far worse injuries than this.” Loki mused. “It should last for a few days, though, if I leave it alone.” Loki met Tony’s eyes. “And we could always do it again, sometime, if you’d like.”

 

Loki let out a muffled grunt of pain when Tony crawled up him and settled his weight on the stretch of inflamed skin. Tony set to covering Loki’s face with kisses, invading the god’s mouth with his tongue, and holding his as tightly as he could manage.

 

When Tony started moving down Loki’s face, and onto his neck, Loki let out a chuckle. “I really don’t think I have the energy for fucking right now.”

 

“S’fine” Tony muttered between kisses. 

 

Even though he couldn’t see it, he could feel Loki’s joy, felt it in the way his hand trailed down Tony’s side to hitch up his shirt. Felt it in the way Loki dug his nails into the sensitive flesh there, determined to leave a mark of his own. Their own way of sharing something they couldn’t put into words, not yet. Four indentions for four very difficult words. _ I’m fond of you _ .

**Author's Note:**

> You can follow me on tumblr, [@Haarii-the-quilava](https://haarii-the-quilava.tumblr.com/) if that’s your thing! :D
> 
> One more part to this series! (don't worry, more fics to follow, and they'll likely be in this same 'verse)


End file.
